


melinda may's magnificent memory

by quibbler



Series: fitzsimmons in the future [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-02-05 10:11:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1814761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quibbler/pseuds/quibbler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or three times Melinda May embarrassed the hell out of Fitzsimmons and one time they didn't mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	melinda may's magnificent memory

**Author's Note:**

> For the most part, I'm being purposefully vague about the setting because everything takes place about 3-4 years from what happens in the 1st season, and it's still plausible that they're working as a team on a new plane. That being said, I'm blindly adopting the idea that Fitzsimmons is still in the lab most of the time, even though I think they might be more willing to be in the field from time to time. Although with a new baby, that's unlikely so they stick to lab work. I also don't think raising a baby on a plane is the best idea, so they might have relocated to an actual building of some sort.
> 
> Coulson makes more of an appearance in this fic than in the previous one, although he's still sort of absent because I'm about 150% sure I can't do him justice. If anyone would like to write something set in this little future!verse of mine where Coulson is more active, _please do_.
> 
> I haven't really mentioned Ward's presence. I think he'll be redeemed somehow, but I also think it will take Fitzsimmons a very long time to forgive him for what he did, so he hasn't made an appearance in either of these stories even though I think he's probably around.
> 
> Furthermore, it is my headcanon that May has an exceptionally good memory and really enjoys watching the science babies squirm a little.
> 
> Beta-ed by the love Océ!

Sophia is wide-eyed and doesn't cry nearly as much as Jemma expected. She has read so many books about parenting that she might be able to recite at least three of them entirely from memory, but theory is so much different from practice--really, she expects this much at least after spending nearly her entire life in a lab. She cradles the baby in one arm, holding up her mobile to her ear with the other. "Yes, mum, I know. Everything is all set up for when you arrive." She listens to her mother going on excitedly about meeting her granddaughter and smiles, pressing the phone to her ear with her shoulder to free her hand. She rests her fingers against Sophia's chest and her daughter gurgles happily, waving a fist in the air as her other hand grasps her mother's finger. "I can't wait for you to meet her either. Mhmm. Okay, I love you, too."

Fitz sits down on the couch beside her and she realises briefly that she hasn't even noticed him hovering nearby, but she knows he would stay close by. He takes the mobile from her so she doesn't have to pull her hand away from their daughter and she leans into him as a gesture of thanks. "How many gifts d'you think your mum is bringing?"

She snorts softly, her eyes still trained on Sophia. "Enough to fill at least three suitcases, and she won't even mind the extra fees. She'd probably buy a car for her right now if it weren't the most absurd idea."

He laughs, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "She looks like you," he says, and she turns her head toward him, chewing on her lip thoughtfully.

"How can you tell? None of her features are really developed--

"--but she has your eyes--"

"--the only feature that's distinct is the bit of hair she's got and it's sort of wonky like yours--"

"--my hair is not--curls are not wonky! Look, her hair is coming in with your colour--"

"--she's got your cute little ears--"

"That's not quite what you said three weeks ago," a voice interrupts, and the two of them stop bickering right then to look up in confusion. May leans against the panel closest to them, arms crossed over her chest, looking stoic as ever, but Jemma knows that May is just as doting over the baby as Coulson is, and Coulson was the one who bought the crib, a pram, and a Captain America printed onesie months before Sophia was even born. Jemma looks down to make sure Sophia is all right; the baby's mouth is set in a frown and Jemma thinks that May interrupted at just the right time as she turns back to the older woman, frowning as well.

"What do you mean?"

A corner of May's mouth turns up as she straightens, stepping closer to them. "As I was the only one of our team in the room when you were in labor, I'm the only one who knows exactly what you said," the older woman starts, and Jemma's eyes go wide. She doesn't know if she should pale in terror or flush with embarrassment so she's certain that her skin has compromised and gone blotchy. "And I seem to recall you shouting _I hate Leo Fitz's stupid floppy ears_ , amongst other things."

Fitz whips his head around to stare at her and she knows she's somewhere around the shade of crimson in the face. "Er--that was--that was a heat of the moment sort of thing--" She stutters and Fitz's nostrils flare, while May steps in and gathers Sophia into her arms without warning. "Fitz, I--"

"--my stupid floppy ears? What is that supposed to mean?"

 _Bollocks_ , she thinks, piecing together a reasonable explanation.

\-----

She glances through the glass doors of the lab and sees Coulson bouncing Sophie in his arms and cooing at her, and Jemma can't help but chuckle as she fills up a micropipette with a cell culture.

"Soph is going to be a very spoiled child," Fitz teases, brushing past her. "Mostly by Coulson. _Especially_ by Coulson."

Jemma laughs, shaking her head as she transfers the vial to the centrifuge. "He's certainly taking on his role of pseudo-grandfather in stride." She's incredibly grateful, in fact, that the entire team has unanimously decided to take care of their little girl, and she knows Sophie is in the best of hands. " Would you pass me the agar plate?"

They stand in comfortable silence as they work, though Fitz keeps reaching for tools over her arms and she keeps leaning into his shoulder. He turns to say something to her when Coulson appears at the door. "Just wanted to let you both know that May has Sophie now. I have to dig my way out of about three pounds of paperwork." He sounds frustrated, but everyone knows that Director Coulson is not so easily defeated by measly paperwork, and Jemma nods with a smile as Fitz murmurs _thank you_ and Coulson leaves with a small smile on his face.

"May's been talking to the baby in Mandarin. Wouldn't it be brilliant for our daughter to be multilingual?" Fitz grins as he leans in to kiss Jemma's temple before crossing the room to the computer. "As long as it doesn't bite us in the arse later on down the road."

She ponders the idea as she jots down observations from the slide under the microscope lense. "You mean when she's a teenager and possibly ready to run away? I mean, the likelihood of that happening with the people in her life is incredibly slim, but even if it were to happen, I don't see it being an issue."

Fitz suddenly has this stupid grin on his face and she looks up at him, bemused. He gets up from the chair and walks over to wrap his arms around her, burying his face in her hair. "We have a baby girl who is going to grow up and probably be a genius and it's just _mad_. I'm just so--I love you, Jemma," he says, tripping over his words, and she laughs into his chest.

"I love you, too, Fitz," she replies, tilting her head up so she can look at him and make sure he isn't crying. To his credit, he isn't, but if she lets him keep talking any longer, he'll likely need a few tissues. "Stop thinking so much about the future, yeah? It's just going to make you all misty-eyed and then I'll have to kick you out of the lab."

He nods, his lips disappearing into a thin line for a brief moment before he's grinning sort of wickedly and oh, dear, that cannot mean anything good. "Can I think far enough into the future to suggest we give Sophie a sibling?"

Jemma's face heats up and she's about to speak when someone clears their throat behind them. "I'd suggest not in the lab, like Simmons hinted was the case for Sophie."

The two of them turn in shock to see May standing at the door with Sophie sitting on May's arm, giggling and tugging lightly at the other woman's hair. Jemma feels her face burning and buries it in her hands while Fitz is staring at her with his mouth open and they both start speaking at the same time.

" _Christ_ , what the hell is your timing? Do you have the hearing of a _cat?_ "

"Am I never going to live down the verbal atrocities spoken while in labour?!"

May only snorts and walks away, Sophie chatting away nonsensically, oblivious to her parents' discomfort.

\-----

"This is a really terrible idea, Fitz."

"No, it's brilliant. May can't keep dropping bombs in our conversations the moment she walks by because it's just _mental_. If she tells us everything she remembers all at once, you can get all of the embarrassment out of your system and I can be wildly indignant all at once."

"What makes you think she'll actually tell us everything?!"

They bicker the entire way to May's office, and only when they're stepped into the room and May has cleared her throat loudly do they actually stop and turn to face her.

"Normally, you two announce why you're here before you start arguing." May's tone is tinged with amusement and they both feel a bit like chastised children.

Jemma starts, her hands resting around her neck. "Well, Fitz was thinking--"

"--that since you claimed you remember everything Jemma said in the hospital room, you might just tell us everything because she doesn't even recall half of it." Fitz looks at her hopefully, his hands on his waist. May ponders this for a few moments before beckoning them to sit on the chairs in front of her desk while she half-sits against the edge of the desk.

"Why would I ruin so many perfectly good ways to embarrass you two?" she says quietly, and Fitz's face falls. Jemma turns to him and and gives him a look that screams _I told you so_ , and she's about to speak when May holds up a hand. "I will, however, tell you that Simmons knows approximately 2000 ways to poison someone, 47 ways of making it difficult to detect within 10 minutes of death, 9 of which are virtually undetectable at all, 56 ways to murder someone using her skill set and about 103 ways to brutally maim someone with a test tube cleaner, an Erlenmeyer flask, and a microscope, several of which were muttered under her breath when her contractions were getting worse. I would advise never getting on your wife's bad side."

Jemma is at least eighteen shades of red as she turns to look at Fitz, who is sitting there with his mouth open in astonishment. It takes a full thirty seconds before he manages to close his mouth and turn to look at Jemma before reaching out for her hand. "I'll try my absolute best," he replies honestly, and Jemma feels her heart seem to swell, though it makes no biological sense.

\-----

She kisses a line up Fitz's jaw and sighs contentedly, curling into him and tangling their fingers together. "Sophie's getting so big now. She asked me to teach her multiplication the other day."

He chuckles, fidgeting with her hair at the nape of her neck."She's only four, Jem," he comments, before he shifts his hand to wrap around her waist. The old shirt of his that she wears to bed each night is nearly threadbare in places, especially where he likes to toy with it when they're curled up together. "Then again, it must be her genetics." Jemma sticks out her tongue at him and he pokes her in the side for it and the two of them start prodding each other like the children they never really got to be. Within five minutes, they're both breathless from laughter and his hair is sticking up in funny angles and her shirt is riding up her stomach. She turns to him, propping her head up on one arm.

"Fitz."

"Hmm?"

She chews at her lower lip. "Has Sophie told you she wants a baby sister or brother lately?"

He freezes momentarily before turning to face her. "No, but she has been playing pretend as though she has a sibling quite a bit," he recalls, looking a bit pensive. "Why?"

"I think--I think maybe we could consider it. I know you mentioned it before, but I thought you were mostly joking. We were both the only children of our households and while that worked out just fine for us, maybe Sophie would thrive with a sibling. Maybe." She flips onto her back, avoiding his searching gaze.

Fitz moves to hover partially over her, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth, eyes wide and Jemma has to refrain from giggling. "Jemma Simmons, I would like nothing more than to expand our family," he declares before leaning down to capture her lips with his.

When he breaks the kiss first, she grins mischievously up at him. "We could try now, you know."

He laughs, reaching a hand down to straighten her shirt. "Not when you know our daughter is about to walk into our room to spend the night. I'd rather not deal with that conversation for a few more years." Jemma is about to wittily retort at him when there's a quiet knocking sound.

"Mummy? Daddy?" Sophie calls from the hallway, and Jemma sighs quietly, admitting that he is absolutely right. Their daughter is going through another phase of wanting to sleep between her parents and being caught in any sort of compromising position would be incredibly embarrassing.

"Come in, monkey," Fitz replies, and the door is pushed open by a little girl with her curls in plaits, holding onto a stuffed kitty, with a tentative look. Jemma beckons with a wave of her hand and Fitz pats the space between them. Sophie breaks into a wide grin before making a running start toward the bed and leaping onto it, landing in a pile of blankets with a small _oomph_. She crawls up toward them and wriggles her way under the blankets, giving a happy giggle as Jemma smoothes a stray curl back and Fitz kisses her cheek.

"Do you know what _a yi_ said to me today?" She asks, all wide-eyed and precious and Jemma just wants her daughter to stay little forever for a brief moment before conceding to the inevitability of age and biology.

"What did she say?" Jemma asks in kind, curiosity colouring her voice.

"She said that when I was still in here," Sophie starts, pressing a tiny hand to her mother's stomach, "and I was almost out into the world, you were very upset at Daddy." Jemma just manages not to roll her eyes, and Fitz is thankfully out of Sophie's line of sight because he's struggling not to burst into laughter and possibly injuring himself doing it. "You were yelling a lot, but then you told her that Daddy was the Watson to your Sherlock, the Ten to your Rose, the... the guanine to your cytosine. And I don't know what any of that means, but she said it means you two love each other very much."

Fitz has stopped nearly cracking a rib holding in a laugh and instead is staring at her intensely and she feels her cheeks burning red, quite thankful that it's too dark to really tell, and she turns to press a kiss to her daughter's forehead. "We do love each other, darling, and we love you just as much."

**Author's Note:**

>  _A yi_ is the Mandarin pronunciation/pinyin of "aunt", and the phonetic pronunciation is close to _Ah-yee_.
> 
> If anyone wants to follow me on tumblr to give me more fic ideas, my URL is the same as it is here (quibbler)!


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